


The Ring

by MissSlothy



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Family Issues, Happy Ending, Light Angst, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 02:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19820875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSlothy/pseuds/MissSlothy
Summary: Written for the ‘Jot it Down July’ challenge on Tumblr.Monday’s challenge is ‘Marrieday’ - so that means anything to do with fake marriage, accidental proposals, marriage AU etc (or that’s how I translated it :)).Story is from Steve’s POV.





	The Ring

**Author's Note:**

> This story briefly talks about the death of a parent so might understandably upset some people.
> 
> It’s been written very quickly with no beta. Apologies in advance for errors.
> 
> Thanks to Tari-Aldarion and Nihilvanum for posting this challenge on Tumblr. I’ve no idea if this story really follows the rules but it’s been fun to write so thank you :)

Steve feels his heart miss a beat as his fingertips brush the small oil-skin bag.It’s jammed at the back of the drawer of his Dad’s desk.Carefully he pulls it out.

The bag’s black, with a faint US Navy insignia in one corner. Fastened at the top with drawstring, it weighs barely nothing in the palm of his hand.

Memories invade his minds-eye. The sound of the gunshot that ended his Dad’s life. The long, too long, trip back to Hawaii, physically exhausted but fuelled by raging anger. The day he’d gone to the Funeral Home to arrange his Dad’s funeral. The moment the Funeral Director had asked what he’d like to do with his Dad’s wedding ring. Would he like it to be buried with his Dad or was there someone in the family who would like to keep it?

Numb, he’d taken it without thinking. Ignoring the Funeral Director’s surprise he tucked it in his pocket and got a cab home. It wasn’t until that evening - sitting on his Dad’s living room floor eating military rations, his bedroll and kitbag spread out beside him - that he remembered what he’d done.

Taking it out, he’d tilted it side to side. Battered and worn as it was from years of wearing, the gold ring still glinted in the soft light from the table lamps. Slowly he’d rubbed his thumb over it. Holding his Dad’s hand as a kid, he’d loved to do the same thing. The feeling hadn’t changed one bit.

Swallowing hard, he’d wrapped his fingers around it. Resting his fist against his lips, he’d closed his eyes. His Mom had worn a similar ring. Now they were both gone.

It had been the first time the grief had really hit him. He’d felt sick with it, hollow inside. Helpless, he’d stared at the ring, his vision blurry. It vaguely occurred to him that Mary might want it. He’d shook his head - it hadn’t been the right time to have that discussion. Instead, he’d retrieved the oil-skin pouch from his kitbag. He’d carefully placed it in his Dad’s desk - it had seemed fitting - intending to tell Mary about at the funeral.

The funeral he’d attended on his own.

“Babe? You okay?”

Danny’s voice rips him away from the memories of ten years earlier. He’d been deeply immersed, everything had seemed so real. The world tilts as his mind tries to right itself. Only Danny’s hand on his shoulder, steadying him, stops him from keeling off the chair he’s perched on.

“Hey, what happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Danny hunkers down beside him. Steve leans into him, drawing on his reassuring strength. He blinks his surroundings back into focus. There’s chaos around him, stacks of packing boxes. Danny’s moving in, they’re making more space. He’d been clearing out his Dad’s old papers, going through drawers he hadn’t look at since moving back in.

The bag suddenly feels much heavier in his hand. Torn between opening it and putting it back, he does what feels like the only sensible thing: he offers it to Danny.

Danny automatically reaches out for it.

The confession slips out before he can stop himself. “It’s my Dad’s wedding ring.”

Danny freezes. His face clouds with worry. His other hand rests on Steve’s leg. He squeezes gently. “You want me to open it for you?”

Anyone else’s first question would probably be ‘why have you got it?’ Not Danny, his Danny, of course not. Lost for words, he leans down and plants a kiss just above Danny’s eyebrow.

He exhales, slowly. It looks so insignificant resting in Danny’s palm. Taking another breath he explains how how he ended up with the ring. “It was all I had left. Mom was dead. Then Dad... I know I still had the house but...”. He stops, takes a shuddering breath, looks around him. Back then he still woke up every night covered in sweat, gunfire ringing in his ears.

Danny follows his gaze. His lips flick up in a faint smile. “It’s different now, huh?”

He smiles despite himself. It’s not just Danny’s who’s moving into his house. It’s Charlie and Grace too. He knows if he looks closer he’ll see that Mary and Joanne have left their mark too.

Shaking his head, he catches Danny’s eyes. There’s so much concern, so much love, in them, it takes his breath away. Things have changed beyond belief. He’d been lost, back then, a ship without an anchor. “I wasn’t going to stay,” he says quietly, shaking his head again. “Back then...I figured I’d capture Hess and I’d go back to the Navy.” There’s guilt creeping into his voice. He can tell Danny’s heard it. “I didn’t know that...I didn’t ever think I’d get to...”

“It’s alright.”Danny leans in close, so their foreheads are touching.“Back then, I thought you’d go back to the Navy too.”

He pulls away, to look Danny in the eye. “You did?”

“Sure.” Danny sounds like he’s aiming for casual. It’s a poor attempt. “I figured I’d do the same in your shoes. Go back to what I knew.” He pauses, glances around. Grimaces. “Get away from this.”

“Yeah.” He’d come so close to making a life-changing mistake. He takes a deep breath to steady himself. He can smell Danny’s body scent. It acts like a trigger, telling his body to relax.

Danny nudges him with his shoulder, pulling him back to the present again.“I thought those tickets for Grace to swim with dolphins were your goodbye gift.You know a kind of ‘thanks for nearly dying, it’s been fun’ gift.”

“You didn’t nearly die—“

Danny snorts, taps the side of his head.“You’re getting old, babe.Forgetful.Maybe you’ve had too many hits on that thick skull of yours—“

He leans down and silences Danny with a kiss. He puts everything he’s feeling into it, thanking this stubborn, loving man for never giving up on him.

When they break the kiss he doesn’t let Danny pull away. He rests his hand on the space between Danny’s shoulder’s blades. His shoulders are rising and falling: Danny’s breathing hard.

“What do you want to do with it?”

He blinks himself back to the present, looks down at Danny’s outstretched hand. Reluctantly he lifts his hand, drags it away from the solid warmth of Danny’s body. “I don’t know.”

“What about Doris?”

Danny sounds sceptical.Steve understands why: Danny’s only met this new version of his Mom, the one with sharp edges and her feelings battened down behind a wall of steel.But his parents had loved each other.Back when he’d kept the ring the violence of his parents’ deaths had been uppermost in his mind.Now he can remember the time before then, when there had been love and laughter in the house.

He reaches out with his forefinger and touches the ring.“He always said it was the best thing he ever did, marrying Mom.He loved us...me and Mary.But Mom...she was the centre of his world.Loosing her...it destroyed him.”He meets Danny’s eyes, holds his gaze.“I understand that now.”

He lays his hand over Danny’s, knits their fingers together.He can feel the ring between them.“He never forgave himself,” he explains, whispering.“He felt he should have protected her.”

For a moment he thinks Danny’s going to point out that there was nothing to protect her against, that she never died.He opens his mouth to deny that, to protect his Mom, because somewhere in his screwed up life he feels like he’s inherited that role.

Danny squeezes his fingers.“You know I’m never going to leave you.You know that, right?”

“Danny...” The intense determination in Danny’s voice has taken his breath away.Danny of all people knows that happy ever after doesn’t exist.

“I’m not saying it’s always gonna be easy,” Danny continues, as if reading his mind.“Hell, I know I’m not the easiest person to live with and you...”. He trails off, the fond smile on his face softening his words.“I’m in, okay.That’s what I’m saying.For as long as you’ll have me.”

Silence falls between them.Danny watches him expectantly, nervously. 

Steve tries to make his brain work.But the sixteen year-old boy who still hides inside him - who’s convinced he’s going to be abandoned again - wants to sob with grateful relief.The Navy SEAL - who’s learnt how to live without happy endings - is telling him to proceed with caution.

“Will you marry me?”

A look of surprise flashes across Danny’s face.He’s pretty sure he’s looking surprised too - that’s not what he’d meant to say.‘I feel the same way’ was what he’d been aiming for.Apparently the clash between his different personas has changed him into a love-sick idiot - one who’s probably about to loose his boyfriend because he pushed too hard. 

Panic flares in his chest.“If you don’t want to, it’s okay...I know you said you never wanted to get married again—“ 

Danny’s eyes narrow.His lips purse together in a tight line.“So you’re  not asking me to marry you?”

“I wouldn’t have said if I didn’t mean it,” he insists because it’s true, even if this isn’t the way he’d ever imagined proposing to Danny.“I’m just...if you don’t...I’m okay with what we’ve got and—“

Danny grabs him, pulling him for a rib-crushing hug.“God, you’re a idiot, babe.”

“I am?” he asks, his voice muffled by Danny’s shoulder.

“Yeah,” Danny confirms, holding him even tighter.“Of course I’ll marry you.”

He knows he should be ecstatic but his sixteen-year old self still has something to say.“ Really ?”

Danny shifts them around so he can kiss him, his fingers digging into the back of Steve’s neck as he pulls him in, hard.His kiss is bruising, breath-taking. 

Eventually Danny pulls away.His cheeks are flushed, his pupils blown-wide.“Believe me now?” 

Steve nods, mutely. His heart’s thumping so loud he can hear it.He feels light-headed with relief.The sense of peace that he gets from being around Danny is creeping back in. 

He’s still got no idea how he got to be so lucky.But he’s not going to question that now.Danny’s watching him, the love he feels displayed proudly on his face. There’s so much trust there, it’s humbling.Silently he makes a promise to never betray it.

He’s leaning in for another kiss when something distracts him.It’s the sound of his Dad’s ring hitting the floor. Cursing, he retrieves it.For a split second he thinks of offering it to Danny.He dismisses the thought: it’s not his to give.And there’s too much history, too much pain attached to it.It’s time for a new start.

As he carefully puts the ring away then leads Danny upstairs, he sends a silent prayer of thanks to his Dad. It’s years since he’s thought about that day he bought the ring home.It wasn’t by accident he found it today. 

The End.


End file.
